Tennessee state Republicans recently passed a new congressional map that, applying the logic of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Callais ruling, has carved up a Democrat-held district previously created through racial gerrymandering. The move succeeded despite significant obstruction and gross incivility from Democratic colleagues.
During the session, Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones—a Democrat who was caught on film throwing a traffic cone at a driver during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest and setting fire to a printout of the Confederate flag—walked around the chamber blowing a bullhorn in lawmakers’ faces, potentially causing noise-induced hearing loss. Jones repeatedly accused Republicans of racism.
“Maybe next year we’ll explain the basics like ‘don’t start fires in the Capitol,’” he stated.
Additionally, Democrat state senator Charlane Oliver, known for threatening riots in 2024 over a bill she did not support, danced atop her desk while holding up a banner that read: “No Jim Crow 2 Stop the Steal.”
Some Democrats engaged in loud chanting and yelling during the session while Republicans conducted their work calmly. Another Democratic legislator became confrontational with police, hurling insults at a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer and interfering with an arrest.
